Al Jazeera confirms release of detained journalist Dorothy Parvaz

Al Jazeera today confirmed its journalist Dorothy Parvaz has been released, after being detained in Syria upon her arrival last month.

It has not yet been confirmed where she was being held but Al Jazeera reports that she landed in Doha, Qatar today on a flight from Iran.

The Qatar-based broadcaster claimed earlier this month it had been given information that Parvaz had been deported from to Iran.

However, questions about her whereabouts remained unanswered when Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran’s Foreign Minister, said he had no information about her whereabouts.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters in a press conference at the weekend that Parvaz had attempted to enter Syria on an expired Iranian visa and without a journalist visa.

Today an Al Jazeera spokesman confirmed Parvaz had been released and returned to Doha.

"She has been in contact with her family, and we are with her now to find out more about her ordeal over the last 19 days."

Al Jazeera confirmed in April it had suspended operations at its Arabic bureau in Syria for safety reasons.

Image by Al Jazeera News Network on Wikimedia Commons. Some rights reserved

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